Aaron Collins's Suspects Chapter 11
by Psychoflop
Summary: Aaron Langeman begins the second round of interrogations


Chapter 11: Aaron's second round of interrogations

"I think we should take the stairs down to the lobby, in case another elevator blows up." said Holly to Aaron and Ida. To which they agreed, they put their dishes from lunch in the sink and headed out the door to the left where the staircase was. After 2 or 3 flights of stairs, Holly noticed a glove with blood on it.

"Oh god, I hope that is not my husband's blood." said Ida in between gasps.

Aaron put on gloves of his own, took the glove and put it into a bag with the word "evidence" written on it. Then they continued downstairs to the main lobby. Everyone reconvened at 3pm as per the request of Ida. Some even needlessly changed their clothes, Aaron Langemann took out a clipboard and began going through his part of the guest list. He grinned slightly at the first name.

"The next to be interrogated is Marcel Bulling."

Marcel sheepishly rose to his feet and walked towards the interrogation room. Aaron then placed himself behind Marcel as they entered. Aaron locked the door and Marcel took a seat.

"You are what Aaron called an 'Ascended fan boy'."

"I am? How so?"

"Just another college kid in Germany who happened to like Your Favorite Enemies. You even arranged to have a band member speak to the class. And your efforts were rewarded when they invited you to work for them. You went from regular character in Aaron's life to almost never speaking to him in the name of 'yfe business'. Tell me Marcel, how much of a nerve did it hit when Aaron started asking questions about the inner workings of the church? Enough to whack the guy after someone ran the laundry list of Aaron's crimes against yfe which amounted to nothing more than his curiosities and anxieties?"

"I am the last person to murder anyone Mr. Langemann."

"Yeah right. I bet you love Yfe's 'goose-stepping' more than you love their music. How…1930's/1940's German of you, to say the least."

"Wow, I knew of the animosity between some of the Cult and some of Yfe. But to compare me to Nazism? You sir, are way off base."

"Am I?"

"Look, the band may react badly to when someone wants to do something that they perceive of as hurtful, and Aaron has crossed a line or two with us. But as an individual, I DO entertain the possibility that that only exists because we have crossed a few boundaries ourselves. Now in regards to my killing Aaron. I was neither anywhere near the right floor nor am I physically capable of carrying all of those weapons."

Aaron tilted his head sideways in confusion as Marcel stood and took his shirt off. He revealed massive bandages around his arm, which was also in a sling.

"Dear god Marcel, what happened?"

"I dislocated my right shoulder carrying Phoenix's and Jason's D.J. equipment. You would think that working for a rock band would have had me prepared to carry that stuff, but it was not to be I guess. Anyways, because the custodial staff were at least in their 50's and the only 2 from Aaron's party who wanted to help clean up were Phoenix and Tamara, I ended up carrying the majority of the stuff back to Phoenix's and Jason's hotel rooms. Took me so long that Aaron was dead before I got half of the speakers upstairs. Then I woke up this morning unable to feel my right arm, so I went to the hotel physician about an hour before we all met down here this morning, he took an x-ray and I have a dislocated shoulder with a bone bruise on my upper right arm."

A knock is heard; Aaron unlocks the interrogation room and opens it slightly. Marcel can only hear a voice whispering and Aaron L. saying "uh-huh" about every 3 seconds. After 2 or 3 minutes, Aaron L. ends the conversation and resumes his interrogation of Marcel:

"That was the hotel physician, your shoulder story checks out. As for the rest, I will compare notes with Holly and Ida. The next person on my list is Laura; could you get her for me?"

"Certainly, but would you mind getting the door? Given my condition…"

"Of course."

Aaron L. got the door as Marcel exited. He even kept it all the way open as Marcel motioned for Laura Bradley to head for the interrogation room. Laura drove her scooter until she reached just to the right of the door to park, then slowly stood up with her cane and eventually got inside the interrogation room.

"I know your medical history almost as well as the dead Aaron did. I can see you carrying maybe 1 of the weapons used to kill Aaron, maybe 2, but not all 3. And I am sure you do not have the speed or mobility to get away from any of the crimes committed, even hacking the hotel's computer. But your scooter IS moving quicker than it should, did you get a fresh battery charge?"

Laura nodded, but frowned: "Yes sir, it was so awkward breaking down right there in the hallway. I do not even like asking for help either. Thankfully Jason and Aaron's straightedge guru Gregg were walking by, and they handled the matter like total gentlemen. They earned the tea that I served them. But I for one am going to have survivor's guilt for the rest of my life. We were just below the murder, I may not have been able to do much but Jason and Gregg could have gone upstairs. But they dismissed it as just a movie on TV, and we kept drinking tea merrily along. This went on for hours."

"Ok Laura, I have all I need I think. How good is your Russian?"

"Non-existent. But if you need Catherine, it is not needed as her English is amazing."

"I do not need Catherine. I need the other Russian girl."

"Frau? Well Detective Langemann, I think her English is not as good. But Andrey's is decent enough so how about I get Andrey to act as translator."

"That would help, but in order to keep her answers untainted I need to question her alone."

"I understand."

Laura (using the table to keep her balance) stood up and walked out. It took her a moment to locate Andrey and Frau, who were going over production notes for an upcoming film.

"They want to question me again?"

"No. But they need you to get Frau to go inside as it is her turn now."

"My English is not THAT fucking bad."

Laura was too busy being in shock to notice Frau stand up and walk towards and into the interrogation room. Frau locked the door behind her and began sizing up Aaron L.

"Do not get any ideas Frau, I am a married man."

"…Oh thank goodness. I got my thrills in last night anyway."

"By killing my friend because you could not get funding for Andrey's precious horror movies, right?"

"No, I am the last person in Russia to want to hurt Aaron. Although I will be the first to admit that most Russians do not share my point of view. I have a very well documented alibi in the form of me fucking that short little ginger friend of Aaron's while 1 of Aaron's high school friends filmed it."

"Ginger friend? Oh, you mean Damon Newall."

"Yes. Red haired men in Russia…do not exist. So I was thrilled when 1 desired me. And he saved from catching a disease from Charles. While we were on our way upstairs, we ran into…SUSAN who was fixing her camera. Damon negotiated that he fixes it in exchange for her filming us having sex. I believe he volunteered the video to Holly when she was asking him questions."

"Then clearing you of wrongdoing should be easy. Now, how well do you know Aaron's other friends?"

"I know Andrey, Charles, Damon and Susan…no one else"

"I figured as much. The next person on my list is Justin Welsh."

"I wish I could help. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. There is only 1 Justin out of the whole guest list."

"Then just shouting his name will suffice?"

"Exactly."

"Then unless there are any more questions, I shall take my leave of you now, yes?"

"Sure."

Frau stood up in her long black dress and slowly walked out to find Andrey and re-join him. Aaron called out, "Mr. Justin Welsh?" Justin stood up, kissed his wife Krystal and headed for the interrogation room.

"So, helping you gain custody of Austin was not enough to repair the damage Aaron caused moonlight water, was it?"

"Ok, how the hell did YOU know the name of the coven Aaron and I were once in?"

"Do not pretend to be so obtuse Justin; you know full well that because you have known Aaron the longest out of anyone in the Cmk, you had the most reason to kill Aaron."

"Aaron is the last guy in the Cmk I would ever hurt, much less kill. The amount I saved on Tim Horton's when he worked there as a teenager alone…I even wanted to give back to him by learning about your favorite enemies. So that I could serve as a mediator and stop all the fighting between the groups. I actually spent most of the night with James talking about the band considering he is the only person I know other than Aaron who listens to them. Then someone who worked for them years ago came into the conversation…oh god….what was her name? The vegetarian who lives in Scotland…HEATHER! So yes, those 2 will vouch for me. We went on until well after midnight."

"Ok. How well do you know Aaron's friends from High School?"

"Not at all. He went to Turner Fenton, I went to Bramalea Secondary School."

"Ok, I met Isaac years ago. So I will fetch him myself."

"That would probably be best."

Aaron and Justin uncharacteristically shook hands, then Justin walked out the door while Aaron scoped the room, "Isaac, would you mind?"

"Not at all, Aaron. Despite the circumstances, it is good to see you again."

Aaron L. said nothing as Isaac entered the interrogation room. Instead he tried to separate his relationship with Isaac from the matter at hand. Surprisingly enough, Isaac spoke first: "So, If I remember correctly, you are going to separate your relationship with me from the matter at hand. Which is questioning me for the murder of Aaron Collins, when in reality (just like the book Aaron and Ida wrote throughout 2012 and 2013) I am too genre savvy to kill him. See, in the great murder mysteries of the days of yore…the stoic, detached best friend of the 1st murder victim is rarely the murderer. And in the rare circumstance that he or she is the murderer, it leaves the detectives, the other characters and even (dare I say it), the reader tend to feel ripped off. Now this is the part where you take personal offence to what you perceive to be being indifferent but is only, in reality, my genre savviness."

"How the hell can you be so indifferent to your best friend being murdered? Hey wait a minute, you ARE good…sorry, dangerously genre savvy."

"No problem, I would not be so genre savvy if I did not read the book that Aaron and Ida wrote so long ago, so many times. Oh look, we are being read by someone right now."

Isaac waves at what Aaron Langemann can only see as a 4th wall, but Isaac sees as you, constant reader. "Now this is the part where Detective Langemann asks me where I was, to which I will supply him with an airtight alibi that he will certainly go over with Holly and Ida."

"Ok, I will play along, where were you last night?"

"Last night I was catching up with 1 of few people from Turner that Aaron stayed friends with, Adam Debideen. After an hour, we were approached by the director friend of Aaron's, a Mr. Andrey Iskanov if I remember correctly. Now I am not really into horror movies, but I took his business card…" Isaac took out the business card and tossed it onto the table "…as I sympathise with his plight, being that I was born in Asia myself. Honestly Aaron, you know me better than to kill someone, much less attack Aaron's mother, and ransack a bunch of safety deposit boxes that I do not need to ransack…then kill Fabio and Harley. 2 people that I have no connection to, directly anyways. Now while I probably COULD be the one to hack the Hotel computer, it is not worth my time. Although I will say this much about my own genre savviness: More people are going to die before you catch the killer, and it is only a 50/50 chance that I myself will be allowed to live. I only hope that if I die, it will be such a heroic sacrifice, that it will be a crowning moment of awesome. Of course, your mileage may vary. Now that I have puzzled you (and to a possible lesser extent, whoever is reading this), may I leave now?"

Aaron Langemann, did indeed look puzzled, "Um, sure."

Isaac smiled slightly, waved at you, the reader again, and headed for the door. "Oh, sorry, I almost forgot, you are going to want me to get Aaron's mom, as she is next on your list, right?"

Aaron looked down at his list, and nodded, upset that Isaac literally called every one of his shots. Isaac merely nodded and spoke, "Um, Lindsay, Aaron wants to question you next. I will leave the door open so that you can get in here even with your crutches."

Aaron slapped himself in the face to regain his composure. Lindsay (crutches and all), eased into the interrogation room and slowly sat down.

"You know, I have to give you props for feigning an injury so that you could look less guilty. You even had me going for a moment. But be honest, you openly admitted as far back as 2003 that you prefer Jessica over Aaron."

"Well you have got me there."

"How much did it eat you up inside when Aaron surpassed his sister in every way conceivable and that the only reason he did not completely kick you out of his life is to shut up his cousin Robbie?"

"Quite extensively. How much does it eat YOU up inside that I am so anti-internet that I enjoyed getting rid of my facebook and am so ignorant of computers I could not have ever hacked the hotel computer?"

"…You have a point."

"As for killing my own son (aside from my own fears of outliving my own kids), I was actually passing along whatever parental advice I have to Aaron's friend Krystal. Tina was with me, and actually came into my room before Krystal did. I had been walking up and down the 11th and 12th floors hoping that I could get my heart rate up and maintain a healthy level of blood sugar. How am I going to exercise with my knee as screwed up as it is?"

"I have no idea. Ok Lindsay, I think we are good."

Aaron helped Lindsay up and both left the interrogation room. Aaron joined Holly and Ida and all 3 formed a huddle with Aaron speaking up first, "Holly, you need to go now. Isaac was probably the most exhausting out of anyone any of us have questioned."

Holly nodded, "I have quite a few people to question…not to mention we have to go over the clues at all of the crime scenes."

They broke from their huddle as Holly looked around, "Corrine, you are next, would you come with me, please?"


End file.
